Written Answers

Tuesday 21 November 2000

Scottish Executive

Cancer

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how much it has spent on research into prostate cancer in the last three years in Scotland.

Susan Deacon: Cancer is one of three clinical priorities for the NHS in Scotland and a specific research priority. The Executive’s approach to cancer research in general is set out in the answer to question S1W-10110.

  Prostate cancer presents particularly difficult challenges and is currently the subject of wide-ranging action and debate. In particular, the Department of Health (England) recently published a Prostate Cancer Action Plan which clearly sets out the issues surrounding the identification and management of cancer. £1 million has been allocated for this and each of the next three years, specifically for prostate cancer, which will be of benefit to men throughout the UK.

  In Scotland we have established a Prostate Cancer Working Group to look at some of the issues in relation to prostate cancer, including patient treatment, specialist education and training and research.

Education

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to promote Scottish education and learning abroad and what financial assistance is available to individual enterprises or organisations to carry out such work.

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what strategy it has to promote the selling of Scottish education abroad in terms of both attendance at Scottish colleges and universities and the acquisition and sale of educational packages prepared by them and whether it will make funding available and, if so, how much and when.

Ms Wendy Alexander: Scottish Trade International provides funding to Scottish Education + Training (SE+T) which is a joint initiative with the British Council Scotland and Scotland’s education sector. SE+T’s aim is to promote Scottish education and training expertise and in its first three years £10 million of additional overseas earnings and 160 new entries to SE+T priority markets by Scottish institutions can be attributed to its activities.

  SE+T is also working with the Scottish Executive which is one of the funding partners, with UK Government Departments, the other devolved administrations and the British Council, in the strategy to attract more international students to the UK which was launched by the Prime Minister in June 1999. As part of the strategy, a three-year worldwide marketing campaign is being undertaken based around a UK Education Brand. A Scottish version of the Brand logo and a separate brochure promoting Scottish education have been produced.

  Scottish Trade International also continues to provide specialist advice and support to individual institutions and assistance towards participation in overseas missions.

Enterprise

David Mundell (South of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive why it was not represented at e2000 at Airth Castle Hotel on 3 November and what steps it has taken to obtain details of, and feedback from, the presentation by Jonas Riddestrale on "funky business".

Ms Wendy Alexander: The then Deputy Minister for Children and Education, Peter Peacock, was due to attend but, unfortunately, had to withdraw at short notice. Executive officials have been in touch with Scottish Enterprise Forth Valley for feedback on the event and information on future related activities.

Enterprise

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will direct or encourage Scottish Trade International, Scottish Enterprise, Highlands and Islands Enterprise and other such bodies promoting Scotland to actively market Scottish Knowledge.

Ms Wendy Alexander: Scottish Knowledge is a private company and as such it is responsible for its own marketing strategy.

  However, the Executive recognises that activity to promote Scotland is enhanced by a collaborative, inclusive approach, which allows and encourages the appropriate involvement of a range of public and private sector organisations.

Enterprise

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will detail the proposed involvement of Sony in any development at Pacific Quay; whether there has been a change in their possible involvement and, if so, whether it will provide details, and whether the costs of the proposed facilities are affected in any way and, if so, how.

Ms Wendy Alexander: In relation to Pacific Quay, there is currently no proposed involvement with Sony.

Environment

Margaret Smith (Edinburgh West) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-10558 by Mr Sam Galbraith on 6 November 2000, whether it intends either to carry out or to commission research into the economic impact of the increase in heather beetle levels on moorland.

Mr Sam Galbraith: I recognise the possible economic impact of substantial and repeated outbreaks of heather beetle on heather moorland. The Scottish Executive, following discussions with Scottish Natural Heritage, intends to commission research to investigate the potential economic impacts of heather beetle on moorland areas.

Equality Strategy

Mr Keith Harding (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what the costs were for the publication, distribution and launch of its document Equality Strategy: Working Together for Equality .

Jackie Baillie: The final costs of publication, distribution and launch of the Equality Strategy are likely to be around £22,000.

Finance

Nicola Sturgeon (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the £44 million in NHS cash balances referred to on page 15 of Making a Difference for Scotland: Spending Plans for Scotland 2000-01 to 2003-04 could be used to repay debt in the health service.

Angus MacKay: The NHS financial regime requires that Trusts make a 6% return on capital assets. This 6% is paid through a mixture of dividends on public dividend capital (effectively a payment reflecting the value of public sector capital tied-up in the Trust) and interest on debt. Even if the debt were repaid, a return of 6% would still be charged. There would therefore be no benefit if the NHS debt were repaid.

  The redeployment of this money was part of a general reallocation package announced on 6 October 1999, which included extra funds for health.

  The arrangement for using the money to redeem housing debt, as part of housing stock transfer schemes, is a novel scheme for making good use of money which would otherwise have had to be returned to the Treasury.

Finance

Nicola Sturgeon (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the basis was of the decision to use the £44 million NHS cash balance to repay housing debt.

Angus MacKay: This £44 million surplus money arose out of the internal market in the NHS, created by the previous UK Government. Under Treasury rules the money was frozen and conferred no additional spending power, and ordinarily it would have been returned to the Treasury.

  In order to keep this money in Scotland, officials negotiated an agreement with the Treasury. As it conferred no additional spending power it was agreed that the money must be used in a way which does not count as public expenditure. The repayment of debt principal does not count as public expenditure and it was finally agreed that the Executive could use the money for the redemption of housing debt as part of the Housing Stock Transfer Scheme.

Flood Prevention

Lord James Douglas-Hamilton (Lothians) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will give the City of Edinburgh Council expert advice and guidance in connection with any need for additional flood prevention measures alongside the Water of Leith.

Mr Sam Galbraith: The need for additional flood prevention measures for the Water of Leith is entirely a matter for the City of Edinburgh Council. However, the Executive is in contact with the council and, should the council decide to take such measures, the Executive stands ready to advise and offer guidance on the procedures involved.

Flood Prevention

David Mundell (South of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to review its current expenditure on flood prevention.

Mr Sam Galbraith: Resources for flood prevention were considered as part of the recently completed Spending Review. This led to a significant increase in resources being made available for flood prevention measures over the next three years.

Flood Prevention

David Mundell (South of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions it has had with Dumfries and Galloway Council about the repeated flooding of the River Nith at the Whitesands in Dumfries.

Mr Sam Galbraith: Dumfries and Galloway Council have not approached my officials about flooding of the Whitesands in Dumfries. Consequently, no discussions have taken place.

Flood Prevention

George Lyon (Argyll and Bute) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive whether Scotland is to receive a share of the £51 million announced by Her Majesty’s Government to help with flooding.

Mr Sam Galbraith: Scotland will benefit from additional resources consequential to the flood prevention package announced by John Prescott following the recent severe flooding in England and Wales.

Flood Prevention

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what additional funds are being made available to provide flood prevention and defence schemes, showing amounts and dates remitted, broken down by local authority.

Mr Sam Galbraith: Following the Spending Review, the former Minister for Finance, Mr McConnell, announced increased provision for the local authority non-housing capital programme for the construction of flood prevention or coast protection schemes. It will be for councils to come forward with suitable schemes to take up these increased resources.

Forestry

Mr John Home Robertson (East Lothian) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive when it will publish the Scottish Forestry Strategy (SFS) and whether the SFS will lead to a review of woodland grants.

Rhona Brankin: The Scottish Forestry Strategy is being published today. Copies have been placed in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre. The strategy contains a commitment to review the Woodland Grant Scheme and the Farm Woodland Premium Scheme to ensure that greater focus can be given to implementing the priorities identified in both the Forestry Strategy and the forthcoming Agriculture Strategy.

General Practitioners

David Mundell (South of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how many GP surgeries in each health board area have videoconferencing facilities and what measurement of usage of such facilities has taken place.

Susan Deacon: This information is not held centrally.

  There is no widespread implementation of videoconferencing, although there have been small scale experiments. Videoconferencing is one aspect of telemedicine and is part of the remit of the Scottish Telemedicine Action Forum (STAF). STAF has been established to fund and evaluate telemedicine projects and to nurture interest in using technology to support and develop clinical practice. The approach is to carefully evaluate patient care benefit from the use of such technologies.

General Practitioners

David Mundell (South of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what targets have been set for the number of GP surgeries to have videoconferencing facilities by 2003.

Susan Deacon: No national targets have been set for the number of GP surgeries to have videoconferencing facilities.

Millennium Link Canal

Mr Brian Monteith (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how much public money is being contributed towards the Millennium Link canal project and which public agencies are involved.

Mr Brian Monteith (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive when it expects the Millennium Link canal to open.

Mr Brian Monteith (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what type of boats will use the Millennium Link canal; whether any traffic projections have been made and, if so, whether it will give details of these projections and where the narrowest point in the canal will be to allow boats to pass through and what the width of that will be.

Sarah Boyack: This is an operational matter and I have asked the Director, Scotland of British Waterways to respond directly to the member. A copy of the reply will be placed in the Parliament’s information centre.

Ministerial Correspondence

Mr Alex Salmond (Banff and Buchan) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive when the Minister for Health intends to reply to my letter of 20 September 2000 regarding the Scottish Ambulance Service.

Susan Deacon: My reply was issued to Mr Salmond on 14 November.

New Deal

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has considered the report on the New Deal by the Federation of Small Businesses, Creating the Right Person for Your Job ; what response it will make to the recommendations and content of the report, and whether it has any plans to implement any of its recommendations.

Ms Wendy Alexander: The Scottish Executive welcomes this report produced by the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB), in collaboration with the Employment Service.

  The Scottish Executive and the Employment Service, with the support of the Scottish New Deal Advisory Task Force, organised a seminar on 11 October to consider the conclusions of the report. This brought together FSB Regional Chairmen and Employment Service District Manager to look at ways to forge closer links with small businesses and promote New Deal at a local level in Scotland. The task force, in co-operation with the FSB and Employment Service, is monitoring progress on this initiative.

Parliamentary Questions

Michael Russell (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive why it took 16 weeks to answer parliamentary questions S1W-7616 and S1W-7618.

Allan Wilson: Although data was not held centrally, and could have been answered immediately to this effect, Departmental officials explored with the Scottish Arts Council what information could be identified to assist answering the member’s questions. After detailed consideration it was concluded that the data could not be assembled without infringing the unreasonable costs criterion.

Post Offices

Mr Adam Ingram (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what representations it has made to the Post Office regarding any proposals to merge Post Office outlets in urban areas to provide fewer but bigger offices and what impact any such proposals would have on the rest of its proposals in the New Vision for the Post Office.

Ms Wendy Alexander: The Post Office and postal services are reserved matters. The Scottish Executive is in regular touch with the United Kingdom Government and the Post Office on issues affecting the Post Office network in Scotland.

Public Appointments

Dr Sylvia Jackson (Stirling) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive when it will make publicly available details of the responses received to its consultation paper Appointments to Public Bodies in Scotland: Modernising the System .

Angus MacKay: The responses have been lodged in the Executive’s Library at Saughton House where they can be inspected by the public.

Public Buildings

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what action is being taken to develop and improve the architectural quality of public buildings.

Allan Wilson: The Executive is committed to developing a policy on architecture for Scotland. We have published a framework for policy development that includes an aspiration for the public sector to act as an exemplar client with regard to design quality.

  We also continue to emphasise that the prime objective of our public sector procurement policy is to deliver the best possible value for money. In the case of building projects, this means achieving an optimum combination of whole life cost and design quality.

Public Transport

Bruce Crawford (Mid Scotland and Fife) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what funds or grant schemes currently exist to support public transport and how much funding is available under each such scheme in (a) 2000-01, (b) 2001-02 and (c) 2002-03.

Sarah Boyack: The funds or grant schemes to support public transport and the amount of funding available in 2000-01 are set out in the table below. With regard to funding in 2001-02 and 2002-03, I refer Mr Crawford to my answer to question S1W-10953.

  Further support for rail is provided through the Rail Passenger Partnership Fund and the Infrastructure Investment Fund which are administered by the Shadow Strategic Rail Authority.

  Support for the provision of subsidised bus services is channelled through local authorities by means of revenue support grant (£28 million in 1998-99).

  

 

2000-01 (£ million)




Public Transport Fund


30.000




Rural Transport Fund*


5.480




Bus Fuel Duty Rebate


47.840




Lifeline Air Services


1.003




Strathclyde Passenger Transport Rail 
Services


83.100




  *The Rural Transport Fund covers grants to local authorities for rural public passenger transport services, the Rural Community Transport Grant Scheme and the Rural Petrol Stations Grant Scheme.

Roads

Bruce Crawford (Mid Scotland and Fife) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to reduce traffic congestion on the A8000 to the south of the Forth Road Bridge; when it expects any such programme to commence and be completed, and how any programme of improvement works will be financed.

Sarah Boyack: I refer the member to the answer I gave to question S1O-1876.

Roads

Brian Adam (North-East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the expenditure was on roads maintenance by each local authority in each of the last three years.

Sarah Boyack: Revenue expenditure 1 on roads maintenance 2 by each local authority in each of the last three financial years is as follows:

  Roads Maintenance

  





1997-98


1998-993


1999-20004







Total Expenditure


of which revenue 
contributions to capital


Total Expenditure


of which revenue 
contributions to capital


Total expenditure 
excludes revenue contributions to capital




Scotland


197,885


10,106


205,381


9,398


180,759




Aberdeen City


6,409


1,339


5,753


0


2,527




Aberdeenshire


15,021


2,492


17,931


2,761


12,836




Angus


5,231


846


5,201


899


3,904




Argyll & Bute


7,811


0


7,620


0


8,003




Clackmannanshire


1,005


0


955


0


786




Dumfries & Galloway


6,755


0


6,508


0


6,713




Dundee City


3,265


0


3,270


0


3,120




East Ayrshire


4,117


0


4,345


0


4,760




East Dunbartonshire


3,240


0


3,599


0


3,125




East Lothian


3,150


0


3,039


227


2,365




East Renfrewshire


2,197


0


2,684


0


2,790




Edinburgh City


11,665


0


10,830


0


9,444




Eilean Siar


4,222


0


5,653


76


4,261




Falkirk


2,981


0


3,124


0


2,643




Fife


8,439


0


7,854


0


6,957




Glasgow City


15,086


0


15,789


0


14,979




Highland


17,941


0


21,384


0


18,009




Inverclyde


1,868


0


2,237


0


1,200




Midlothian


3,115


88


2,952


0


2,272




Moray


3,239


0


4,468


631


2,940




North Ayrshire


3,415


0


3,415


0


3,577




North Lanarkshire


6,315


0


5,854


0


5,924




Orkney Islands


4,809


1,646


4,757


1,558


3,262




Perth & Kinross


8,530


1,546


7,916


964


7,255




Renfrewshire


4,803


0


4,767


40


5,365




Scottish Borders


8,300


0


7,986


0


6,731




Shetland Islands


6,155


957


7,343


1,975


5,745




South Ayrshire


3,950


0


4,295


0


4,546




South Lanarkshire


12,454


1,192


11,199


222


11,841




Stirling


4,247


0


4,067


0


4,153




West Dunbartonshire


3,235


0


3,322


45


3,576




West Lothian


4,916


0


5,265


0


5,150




  Source: As reported by local authorities on Local Financial Return LFR 5 for the years 1997-98, 1998-99 and Provisional Outturn Budget Estimate (POBE) return for 1999-2000.

  Notes:

  1. Revenue expenditure is met from council tax, non-domestic rates and government grants. Revenue data are collected on an accrual basis. Figures prior to 1999-2000 include revenue contributions to capital. Service costs are apportioned notionally, pro rata, to expenditure on operating expenses.

  2. Roads maintenance includes gritting and snow clearing and other road maintenance.

  3. Data for 1998-99 are provisional and may be subject to change.

  4. Provisional Outturn figures.

Rural Transport

Bruce Crawford (Mid Scotland and Fife) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how much funding is allocated to the Rural Community Transport Grant Scheme for 2000-01.

Sarah Boyack: A total of £1.514 million is allocated to the Rural Community Transport Grant Scheme for 2000-01. This figure includes funding which was carried forward from 1999-2000 to allow payment of invoices in relation to committed projects which were not presented for payment by 31 March 2000.

Sex Offenders

Mr Gil Paterson (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to amend the Sex Offenders Act 1997.

Mr Jim Wallace: The provisions of the Criminal Justice and Court Services Bill currently before the UK Parliament will strengthen the existing regime to include:

  initial registration in person within 72 hours;

  powers for the police to fingerprint and photograph offenders on initial registration;

  an increase in the maximum penalty for failing to register from six months to five years imprisonment;

  powers for Ministers to make regulations requiring sex offenders to notify the police when travelling overseas; and

  powers for Ministers to make regulations on the police stations at which offenders must register and on notification to the police on the release of registrable sex offenders.

  The Scottish Parliament approved the extension of the measures to Scotland in a debate on 5 October.

  We are also continuing our joint review of the 1997 Act with the UK Government. The conclusions reached by the Expert Panel on Sex Offending chaired by Lady Cosgrove and the findings of Lord MacLean’s Committee on violent and sex offenders will also be taken into account in considering future legislation.

Sex Offenders

Mr Gil Paterson (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what safeguards are in place at present to prevent known sex offenders from relocating to avoid registration on the sex offenders register.

Mr Jim Wallace: Under the Sex Offenders Act 1997, sex offenders liable for registration have to inform the police when they move house or if they stay at an address for more than 14 days. Failure to do so is an offence.

Sex Offenders

Mr Gil Paterson (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what provisions are in place at present to place sex offenders who were convicted abroad on the sex offenders register.

Mr Jim Wallace: There are no such provisions in the Sex Offenders Act 1997. However, we are considering this subject in our joint review of the 1997 Act with the UK Government.

Sex Offenders

Mr Gil Paterson (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what consultations it has undertaken to investigate the effectiveness of a sex offenders register which does not include those convicted abroad and under which those travelling abroad do not have to inform the relevant authorities of their whereabouts.

Mr Jim Wallace: Under the provisions being introduced in the Criminal Justice and Court Services Bill, Ministers will have the power to make regulations requiring certain sex offenders to notify the police when travelling abroad. More widely, the effectiveness of the register is being considered in our joint review with the UK Government, which is consulting interested organisations. We will also draw on the report of the Expert Panel on Sex Offending chaired by Lady Cosgrove, which has carried out its own consultation on a range of issues related to the monitoring of sex offenders.

Sex Offenders

Mr Gil Paterson (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions it has had and with whom regarding a European sex offenders register and what the outcome was of any such discussions.

Mr Jim Wallace: There have been no such discussions. Arrangements already exist through the National Criminal Intelligence Service and Interpol for intelligence to be sent to other countries when the police believe a known sex offender has travelled to that country and anticipate that he may commit a criminal offence.

Sex Offenders

Mr Gil Paterson (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions it has had and with whom regarding a UK sex offenders register and what the outcome was of any such discussions.

Mr Jim Wallace: There have been no such discussions. Arrangements already exist whereby police forces can access registration details on a UK basis through the Police National Computer and the Scottish Criminal Records Office computer.

Slate Industry

Lord James Douglas-Hamilton (Lothians) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will hold discussions with Scottish Enterprise on the prospects for a new Scottish slate industry, given that over 300,000 homes will require roofing renewal over the next 30 years.

Ms Wendy Alexander: The Scottish Stone Liaison Group, funded by Historic Scotland, is considering a pilot project to quarry a small amount of Scottish slate. Such an exercise would involve discussions with Local Enterprise Companies. Scottish Enterprise is willing to consider proposals to establish individual operations for stone production, including slate, at Local Enterprise Company level, once the location is known and following the preparation of a business plan. This would enable a view to be taken on the commercial viability of individual proposals and a decision on the appropriate form of support which can be offered.

Sport

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to provide schoolchildren with greater access to qualified coaching in the major sports.

Allan Wilson: During the recent debate on sport, Sam Galbraith announced that we will develop further the School Sports Co-ordinator Scheme to put more focus on school/club links which will give schoolchildren more direct access to professional coaching. Through  sportscotland we are also developing a Local Coaching Development Officer Network. The network will deliver volunteers and coaches at a local level who will be required to ensure that community clubs developed in the school environment function properly.

Tourism

David Mundell (South of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1O-2432 by Sarah Boyack on 2 November 2000, where Moffat’s "thistle sign" is located and what words it bears.

Sarah Boyack: The town of Moffat itself does not have a "thistle sign" located on either the A74(M) or the adjacent A701 trunk road. However, Moffat Woollen Mill and Moffat Station Park have tourist information signs on the A701 trunk road approach to junction 15 on the A74(M). These signs include the Scottish Tourist Board "thistle".

Transport

Bruce Crawford (Mid Scotland and Fife) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how much of the funding allocated to (a) the Freight Facilities Grant Scheme, (b) the Track Access Grant Scheme, (c) the Public Transport Fund, (d) Rail Passenger Partnership Funding, (e) the Infrastructure Investment Fund and (f) the Rural Community Transport Grant Scheme for (i) 2000-01, (ii) 2001-02 and (iii) 2002-03 has already been committed.

Sarah Boyack: The funding committed is detailed in the table below:

  

 

2000-01
(£ million)


2001-02
(£ million)


2002-03
(£ million)




(a) Freight Facilities Grant Scheme


3.960


1.458


1.433




(b) Track Access Grant Scheme


Nil


Nil


Nil




(c) Public Transport Fund


30.003


36.688


18.118




(d) Rail Passenger Partnership Funding


0.800


Nil


Nil




(e) Infrastructure Investment Fund


Nil


Nil


Nil




(f) Rural Community Transport Grant 
Scheme*


1.186


0.345


0.314




  * The figure for 2000-01 includes funding carried forward from 1999-2000 to allow payment of invoices in relation to committed schemes which were not presented for payment at 31 March 2000.

Waste Management

Bruce Crawford (Mid Scotland and Fife) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how waste materials spread on land are monitored and controlled by the Scottish Environment Protection Agency.

Mr Sam Galbraith: The treatment and disposal of controlled waste is regulated under the Waste Management Licensing Regulations 1994. These activities normally require a Waste Management Licence issued by the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA), the waste regulation authority which monitors to ensure that conditions set in the licence are followed.

  In order to encourage the recycling and reuse of wastes, certain activities, such as the spreading on land of some wastes which provide agricultural or ecological benefit, may be exempted from the full waste management licensing regime. Examples of such wastes are waste foods, blood and gut contents from abattoirs, paper waste sludge.

  Before such activity may be carried out it must be registered with SEPA, which enters details of the exemption on a public register. SEPA has powers to monitor and where necessary will inspect and monitor the activity to ensure that there is no harm to health or the environment.

Waste Management

Mr Adam Ingram (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive when it will bring forward and publish its plans to legislate for the introduction of permits restricting the amount of waste sent to landfill sites and what penalties will be imposed on local authorities which fail to comply with their obligations under the EC Landfill Directive.

Mr Sam Galbraith: The EC Landfill Directive requires significant reductions in the amount of biodegradable municipal waste sent to landfill sites. Sarah Boyack announced, in reply to question S1W-6441 on 2 May, the results of a public consultation that examined ways of meeting these targets. 84% of those who responded favoured the introduction of a system of permits issued to local authorities for the landfilling of biodegradable municipal waste. My officials are working closely with the Department of the Environment Transport and the Regions on the design of a permit system, including the nature of any penalties for non-compliance. I plan to launch a further consultation on the details of how such a permit system would work early in 2001.

Waste Management

Bruce Crawford (Mid Scotland and Fife) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1O-2461 by Mr Sam Galbraith on 2 November 2000, which organisations were consulted with regard to the recommendations of the Strategic Review of Organic Waste Spread on Land ; when consultation on the review commenced; how the consultation process was promulgated, and on what date the last response was submitted.

Sam Galbraith: A list of the organisations directly consulted on recommendations in the Strategic Review of Organic Waste Spread on Land was enclosed with the public consultation paper when it was issued. (A copy is available from the Parliament’s Reference Centre.) Consultation began on 1 April 1999 when a Scottish Office News Release was issued to draw attention to the issue of the consultation paper. The last direct response to the consultation was received on 2 July 1999, although several representations relating to the review have been received by the Executive since then.

Waste Management

Bruce Crawford (Mid Scotland and Fife) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive,  further to the answer to question S1O-2461 by Mr Sam Galbraith on 2 November 2000, when the review of the exemptions in the Waste Management Licensing Regulations 1994 commenced; when the review will be concluded, and which organisations it intends to consult on this issue.

Mr Sam Galbraith: A number of concerns have been expressed about the exemptions in the Waste Management Licensing Regulations 1994. In particular the sixth report by the House of Commons Environment, Transport and Regional Affairs Select Committee in June 1998 raised concerns about the controls on the spreading of industrial wastes on land. The Executive is working in parallel with the Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions on a review of the exemptions with the aim of consulting on proposed amendments early next year.

  All organisations and bodies considered to have an interest in the issue will be consulted and copies of the consultation document will be available to the public and in the Parliament’s Reference Centre.